Hello
ODK history lovers
The
Qualcast Commodore was a
14-inch reel lawnmower made by the British
Qualcast Group and it entered service in the UK in about 1960. It was an
updated version of the Suffolk
Punch (c1954) … with Qualcast having
acquired the Kaufmann Group of companies – owners of the Suffolk Foundry -
in 1958.
Qualcast’s first use of the Suffolk 14” design would have been the
Qualcast
Royal Blade De Luxe of
c1958. That machine was powered by
a JAP 2-stroke engine. The Commodore would be powered by the brilliant
little
Suffolk 4-stroke engine – the 75G – but shared all the other features of
the Suffolk
Punch, and then the Qualcast
Royal Blade derivative.
In Australia, Qualcast was a key player in the inter-war years,
but it lost its way post-WWII. During the UK’s re-building phase,
Qualcast designs were really interwar designs, and they were
showing their age by the mid-1950s!
It was only through acquisitions that the Qualcast Group maintained
its position as a key player in the UK and Europe. In Australia, there
was too much competition from AUS-made mowers. New post-WWII
designed pushies from
Pope and
Ogden, and brilliant designs from
Scott Bonnar marginalised Qualcast here.
Qualcast’s early rotaries were USA inspired and lacked features
being developed on these shores. Australia led the world in rotary
lawnmower designs at this time.
Nonetheless, the Commodore was part of Qualcast’s modern 1960’s
fleet – the
Commodore, Captain and
Admiral. These were lighter
‘lightweights’, combining lighter steel plate, pressed steel, and alloy
components. This fleet had dual clutches and were quality designs.
TO BE CONTINUED …